Option #2: Forensic Analysis Investigation Case Study – OUTLINE ATTACHED

Case: Florida doctor sentenced for role in income tax fraud scheme

• This is an actual fraud case that has previously been investigated and prosecuted.
• In this option, the analyst will play the role of an investigator who is presenting the case at a fraud conference and, as such, the final product will be in a presentation format. There will be no narrative document associated with this option.

For this Portfolio Project, you will assume the role of a forensic analyst who has been asked to perform a forensic assessment of a “real-world” fraud case “Fraud case information attached” that has been prosecuted. Imagine you have been asked to present your findings at a fraud conference; therefore, the final submission will be a presentation developed in PowerPoint. You will be required to apply all of the skills and techniques to run forensic tests and then interpret your findings, creating a usable fraud-detection strategy.

There are seven main areas that must be addressed in this investigation and in the final document report.

1. Case Profile (length: 2-3 PowerPoint slides) CASE PROFILE IS DONE AND ATTACHED, JUST ADD TO THE PRESENTATION. PLEASE USE A DIFFERENT LAYOUT.

Perform background searches on the company involved by searching the internet or Library’s LexisNexis to find financial documents—at minimum an income statement and balance sheet. Larger companies can be located using an SEC 10-K Report. If you type this in Google followed by a company name, you will see results, for example, SEC 10-K Report Coca-Cola. You can also locate financial records for companies using general Google searches and Ventureline.com, for which a link is provided below. Your instructor must approve of your case prior to your beginning substantive work on the project. For your final report, provide a one- to two-slide PowerPoint description of your company including basic facts such as financial status, market it operates in, product or service, etc.

Ventureline.com is an excellent site to research and obtain the financial statements of companies and to obtain results from specific ratio analyses.

Provide the name of the company of your choice, URLs and/or contact information to specify where you will get your data and company information, and a short description of the company, including the type of business, products and/or services offered, markets served, size, and financial status.

Your company profile should be 2-3 PowerPoint slides with document and citation formatting in conformity with APA Requirements.

2. Offender Profile (length: 2-3 PowerPoint slides)
Using the criminological theories, develop a profile of the fraud offender for this company. Internet searches will reveal important information pertaining to the offender. Be sure to consider all factors in the company’s background, such as what geographic areas it operates in, whether and how often employees are in an office or in the field, what industry it operates in, competitor activity, past fraudulent activity, etc. For this section, focus exclusively on the offender. You will delve into red flags and risk factors in the next section.

3. Identify Risk (length: 2-3 PowerPoint slides)

Create a list of potential internal and external threats to this company. Develop a list of at least 25 specific risks that the firm will face. For example, (1) check employee cell phone usage via report to identify personal use (internal threat) or (2) monitor any medical bills received from Dr. Smith, as he was just indicted for medical fraud (external threat). Consider this something the company can now use as part of their fraud strategy.

4. Identify Red Flags (length: 2-3 PowerPoint slides)
Develop a list of red flags that this company can use as part of fraud-prevention efforts. Remember that these can be used as part of your database parameters when performing forensic analytics. Aim to design at least 10 to 15 red flags based on the risks developed in the previous section.

5. Analyze Financial Documents (length: 3-6 PowerPoint slides)
Review and analyze the financial information from your company. The first step in this section is to import your financial data into MS Excel. Once this is completed, perform a forensic analysis of the data, looking for discrepancies and abnormalities. Remember, when looking at financial data it is important to ponder the numbers myopically, but don’t forget to take a broader perspective as well. In other words, ask whether sales and revenue match, and how they are related/correlated, for example. Paste your Excel spreadsheet into a PowerPoint slide.

6. Perform Two Forensic Analytical Tests (length: 4-6 PowerPoint slides) THE ANALYTICAL TESTS ARE DONE AND ATTACHED, JUST ADD THEM INTO THE PRESENTATION
This is where you get to show off your skills! In this section of the paper, perform two forensic tests selected from the list below on company data. You may use any form of data to analyze. If you could not locate any usable data, you may fabricate your own data set using at least 10 data cells in Excel. The data you use must be approved by your instructor as a deliverable in the Week 4 outline.

7. Interpretation and Summary (length: 4-6 PowerPoint slides)
for the final section of your report, provide a full summary of your findings. Assemble an overview of your research on all sections listed. Don’t forget to include potential future threats that the company may face and a formula for a successful fraud-prevention strategy. Note key areas where the company was vulnerable and what countermeasures could have been put in place to avoid these.

Support your analysis, assertions, and/or positions by citing and integrating knowledge from at least five credible or scholarly sources, no .com sources, one of which may be course textbook.

Nigrini, M. J., (2011). Forensic Analytics: Methods and techniques for forensic accounting investigations. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.

Your total presentation should be at least 20 PowerPoint slides in length (including comprehensive slide notes to support your slides) with document and citation formatting in conformity with APA Requirements. Add notes. Do not over load pages with information, add the additional information to the notes section.

Ensure your presentation is well organized, well written, and clearly conveys your findings to an appropriate target audience.